It is to be noted this Utility application corresponds to Provisional application Ser. No. 60/068515, filed on Dec. 22, 1997.
In recent years, home canning and freezing has become increasingly popular as this practice is most practical and economical for providing food for one or one's family. In addition, the quality, especially taste, is often better with fruits and vegetables that have been home canned or frozen than those which may be purchased in the supermarket. This is true for various reasons, but one of the most significant being the fact that the individual can choose and select the quality and maturity of the fruits and vegetables that are going to be canned or frozen.
Probably home freezing is generally preferred over canning because it is ordinarily less trouble, and because the true taste of the product being frozen can be maintained quite well in a frozen environment. But even still, home freezing requires time and effort and there are certain problems and inconveniences involved.
It is noted by the applicants that one of the most difficult problems when home canning or freezing is when one wishes to fill a freezer bag, it is very difficult to hold open the freezer bag while simultaneously pouring the substance into the bag, and this can be most difficult, messy, and wasteful if spillage occurs. It is further noted by the applicants that this is a very common problem which has been recognized, but which has not been successfully resolved, even though numerous attempts have been made, and evidence of this is clear as the prior art is very crowded and immense.
However, it is also noted that most all attempts exhibited try to resolve the problem by means of a wire configuration of some type, which supports the bag in some manner, and in most all references, this is done by inserting the bag up through the wire device, folding it over the top edge thereof, and then the bag is secured thereto by either clips, or a slidable member is inserted into the bag within the top of the device. This is not as successful as one would hope, as most often the bag cannot be completely filled to the top and also when the bag is folded over and then secured, tearing and/or rupture of the bag is incurred, which is a further disadvantage when a typical "ZIP-LOCK" bag is used, as the closure means can become damaged due to the exerted pressure thereon.
Exemplary of such devices are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,901,959, 4,899,967, 4,889,300, 4,488,697, 4,283,032, and 3,958,785. Furthermore, each of these references do not recognize that spillage and waste is most often incurred due to the design, as none of the references include means to guide (such as a funnel member) the substance to be poured into the bag.
However, it is well known that when pouring any substance, a funnel is most advantageous and reduces spilling and waste. Therefore, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,855, 4,248,278, 3,818,956, 2,928,259, 2,827,929, 2,688,429 and 645,199 each include a funnel type member to overcome the problem of spilling and reduce waste. Unfortunately, each reference includes the funnel member having a stem which is slidably engaged within substantially a base member of some type with the bag being inserted up through and folded over the top edge of the base member, and as noted above, this is a disadvantage and continues to be a problem inherent within each of the references, thus, this is a continuing problem which has not been recognized and/or addressed in a successful manner.
Therefore, the present invention recognizes multiple unresolved problems, addresses each and resolves each problem in a manner heretofore not seen, nor taught. Also, the present invention includes novel physical features as will be seen in the following specification.